-Caveat Lector-
<<Time to bring back compulsory national military service? A<>E<>R >>
"" ... "at least since 1816, there has been a very durable pattern in U.S.
behavior: The more veterans in the national political elite, the less likely
the United States is to initiate the use of force in the international
arena." ""
>From TheChicagoTribune
{{<Begin>}}
U.S. MILITARISM WILL BE DIFFERENT AS WAR VETERANS DISAPPEAR
William Pfaff
Los Angeles Times Syndicate
November 9, 1999
PARIS -- In September 1939, when Europe went to war, the U.S. Army (including
the Army Air Corps, which did not become a separate service until 1947)
numbered 174,000.
The United States had a long and principled hostility to "standing armies,"
believed a threat to democracy. That sentiment was explicit in the
Constitution, whose drafters delegated to Congress the authority "to raise and
support armies," but subjected that power to the condition that "no
appropriation to that use shall be for a longer term than two years."
The standing military force of the United States was constitutionally confined
to a "well-regulated militia" in the individual states. The militia of the 18th
Century has become the National Guard of the 20th Century, placed under the
authority of state governors.
Today the "standing army" of the United States--Navy and Air Force included--
numbers 1.5 million. There are reserve and National Guard forces of nearly 2.5
million.
The regular forces hold themselves prepared to wage, simultaneously, one major
war and two minor ones in different parts of the world, even though the United
States today faces no serious military threat other than the theoretical one
posed by the existence of "loose nukes" in a disorganized Russia.
Some Americans think that China in the future might become a hostile state, but
China has no evident interest in war with the United States, and no way to
attack it.
Much also is made of threats by "rogue nations" or terrorist groups. Last month
a federal commission headed by former Sens. Gary Hart and Warren Rudman warned
that the terrorist threat will worsen during the next 25 years, citing nothing
specific to demonstrate that this is so. Scenarios of such attacks are
imaginative but fanciful, and the evidence of a serious terrorist threat is
anecdotal and speculative.
The terrorist threat, in any case, is a police problem. However, the commission
said that as the United States is unprepared for terrorism, there will be "more
pressure on the military to expand its scope into domestic law enforcement, as
the line between foreign and domestic threats is blurred."
There is a militarism problem in the United States today, but it is chiefly a
problem with civilians. For years, U.S. governments have made consistent and
uncritical recourse to military measures to deal not only with foreign policy
crises but, increasingly, such civil society issues as the drug trade and
domestic terrorism.
An important set of studies of civilian-military relations just issued by the
Triangle Institute for Security Studies (composed of faculty from Duke, North
Carolina and North Carolina State universities) notes that "at least since
1816, there has been a very durable pattern in U.S. behavior: The more veterans
in the national political elite, the less likely the United States is to
initiate the use of force in the international arena."
Civilian leaders without military experience tend to have a different and more
aggressive view of the use of military force than do military leaders
themselves.
Today, World War II and Korean War veterans are mostly gone from U.S. political
life, and Vietnam veterans are on the way out. The institute says that, for the
first time, the United States is obliged "to manage the cultural gap (between
civilians and military) whilst the military is large and powerful, yet without
an external threat to focus civil-military cooperation."
It finds that the principle of civilian control of the military has been
subjected "to more ongoing strain than at any time in American history."
The authors say that "many of the problems and failures of recent U.S. military
interventions originated not in excessive or incompetent civilian meddling, but
in poor civilian oversight, particularly in failures to insist upon open and
candid dialogue with the military; to plan; to ask difficult or unpleasant
questions; and to scrutinize military activities so as to connect means with
ends."
They argue that the situation cannot be described as a crisis, but that it
could become dangerous if it is not addressed. Evidence for that is their
finding that 30 percent of the American civilian population today "believes
that the military most or all of the time seeks ways to avoid civilian orders
with which it does not agree."
Measuring "elite" and mass civilian opinion separately, they found that "a
striking majority" of mass opinion (68 percent) and a very large percentage of
elite civilian opinion (46 percent), believes that the military evades civilian
accountability at least some of the time. "Nearly half of the mass (population,
47 percent) and nearly one-third of civilian elites (30 percent) express doubt
about the safety and security of civilian control in the United States."
This is a neglected problem. It deserves attention.
Email this story to a friend
{{<End>}}
A<>E<>R
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Integrity has no need of rules. -Albert Camus (1913-1960)
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking
new landscapes but in having new eyes. -Marcel Proust
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
"Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said
it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your
own reason and your common sense." --Buddha
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
It is preoccupation with possessions, more than anything else, that
prevents us from living freely and nobly. -Bertrand Russell
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
"Everyone has the right...to seek, receive and impart
information and ideas through any media and regardless
of frontiers." Universal Declaration of Human Rights
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
"Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will
teach you to keep your mouth shut." Ernest Hemingway
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Forwarded as information only; no endorsement to be presumed
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material
is distributed without charge or profit to those who have
expressed a prior interest in receiving this type of information
for non-profit research and educational purposes only.
DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
==========
CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic
screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters
and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright
frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects
spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL
gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers;
be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and
nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
========================================================================
Archives Available at:
http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html
http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
========================================================================
To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Om
